


The Farthest From Straight Boys- A Proposal That Cannot Be Refused

by heartsdesire456



Series: Straight Boys (the series) [5]
Category: Adam Lambert (Musician)
Genre: M/M, Marriage Proposal, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-30
Updated: 2012-01-30
Packaged: 2017-10-30 08:35:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/329848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartsdesire456/pseuds/heartsdesire456
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part 5 of the Straight Boys series <i>After a final, iron-clad, for sure legalization of marriage equality, the excitement around 'Are you guys gonna get married' and 'A girl I know is getting engaged!' is all the rage. With six completely opposite friends with totally different opinions on marriage, is a wedding in the future of the group?</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	The Farthest From Straight Boys- A Proposal That Cannot Be Refused

**Author's Note:**

> I meant for this to be the FINAL installment of the Straight Boys series, but alas, I decided to split it into this one and ONE LAST FIC in the series. I'm not going to write it yet though. I've got two fics that NEED my immediate attention.

It had passed.

This time there was no possibility of repeals, there wasn’t any court decisions to be made, and it was once and for all sure.

Marriage equality was finally legal for good at last. 

After the issue was finally put to a popular vote, after several passes and repeals, in order to see exactly what the people wanted, it had passed, in a monumental vote, by a fractional fifty-two percent. When the laws were set into place, marriages began in droves for the last time, as all marriages were real now. All the buzz was about who all was getting married, who all pretended to care but didn’t, and who all flat out said marriage never mattered to them in the first place.

Sutan hummed as they watched the news covering all the lines of people getting married, sharing a bucket of ice cream. “You know, my hairdresser Barb? She’s getting married tomorrow,” Sutan offered, kicking his feet absently from his positing on his belly, passing the bucket to Adam, who was sitting in the middle with crossed legs. 

“I think that one guy you dated that had the afro? I think he’s getting married,” he said, and Sutan snorted.

“Oh I remember him! That guy was sweet but that was less ‘dating’ and more ‘fucking’,” he said.

Brad sighed, sticking his spoon into the bucket in Adam’s lap. “I want to get married,” he said dreamily, sticking the spoon into his mouth with a slurp.

Sutan and Adam shot him a look. “Seriously, or like… some day?” Sutan asked, and Cheeks smiled sadly.

“I’ve always wanted to get married. I used to want to meet an amazing man and get married and grow old together,” he said, sighing heavily. “Everybody’s always told me I’m too sappy, that it’s a disgrace to being gay and fabulous, but fuck that, life is just better sappy,” he defended. He nudged. “Besides, you want to get married some day, right?” he asked, and Adam shrugged.

“Yeah some day, but I’m in no hurry. I mean, I am a busy man and weddings are hard work,” he said. “And I’m a celebrity so I can’t just go ‘okay, simple wedding!’, it would have to be grand,” he explained. He looked at Sutan. “What about you? Any wedding bells in Mrs. Sutan Ratliff’s future?” he teased.

Sutan scoffed. “Girl, please. I’m genuinely happy for everybody, but marriage was never in the cards for me,” he said, shrugging. “I love Tommy, I really do. And if he really wanted to get married, I’d say yes to make him happy, but I just don’t feel like a contract with the state is necessary to validate my life, you know?” he said. “I understand others feel it’s more of a big deal, and I support that because marriage is a beautiful thing, I just don’t think it’s the thing for me.”

Cheeks scoffed. “If I thought for a minute Neil had any ideas of getting married, I’d have my wedding planned already,” he said, then sighed. “But sadly, I really doubt I’m going to be Mr. Cheeks Lambert anytime soon.”

Adam scoffed. “My brother probably hasn’t even given it a thought positive or negative.”

Sutan chuckled. “He may not even know it’s legal now,” he teased and Cheeks rolled his eyes.

“My boyfriend knows it’s legal, that’s political news,” he said, then smiled. “I don’t know, maybe someday? I really want to get married, and I want it to be to Neil, but that’s not just my choice. He’s just as involved as I am in marriage.” He shrugged. “I don’t want to like… make him think he has to marry me or something, so I’ve never brought it up. Neil would probably marry me just cause he likes for me to be happy, but if we ever get married, I want him to want it, not just accept it.”

Adam hummed. “Well, he’s a dude. What dude _wants_ to get married? Normal men might, but Neil is a total dude. He’s like… only a few steps below TommyJoe on dude-liness,” he joked and Sutan snorted.

Brad scoffed. “You people always go on about Neil being a dude, but he’s really not. He may play at it, and he is a boy, but I’ll have you know, your brother may well be more sensitive and caring than you,” he stressed, poking Adam in the side. 

Sutan hummed. “You know, Adam, I have heard tales of Neil being stupidly romantic for no reason for Mr. Cheeks over here,” he said and Brad smiled.

“Cause he is! Seriously, Adam, you should hear some of the girl-talk I get into with Sutan. You’d hear way more about how sweet Neil is than you could imagine,” he said and Adam mimed gagging.

“Too close to hearing about my brother’s sex-life. I’ve had way too much knowledge of that already, even if he is a Ken Doll and it’s all vicious lies anyways,” he denied, and Sutan smirked.

“So you don’t want to hear about Neil coming home and randomly scooping Cheeks up, carrying him to the bedroom, then rockin’ his world all night lon-“

“IT IS LIES!” Adam cried, horrified. “VICIOUS LIES!”

Brad groaned, flushing. “Sutan! Stop telling people! I told you and Sauli, that was girl-talk, that is not things I want Neil’s _brother_ to know!”

“I really didn’t want to know,” Adam agreed, shuddering. “Ew, it’s so nasty. Neil can’t have sex. He’s a blood relative!”

Sutan grinned evilly. “Well, so are your parents, but they had plenty of sex-“

“NO!” Adam squeaked. “They found us in a cabbage patch, they found us in a cabbage patch!” he whined, pouting. “First off, ew straight sex, and second, EWWW _parents_ having sex!”

Brad hummed. “You know, I always wondered,” he said, giving Sutan a look. “What do you think the chances Adam’s mom and dad totally had sex even after they got divorced?” he asked, and Sutan hummed.

“I don’t know, they did split up really low-stress. Neither saw anybody anytime soon after they split up. I mean, now they’re sort of friends, but I wouldn’t be shocked at all if like… for a little while after they got divorced, they still hooked up occasionally. I mean, it isn’t like they split up to be with other people, and they weren’t _old_ so they probably still wanted sex-“

“Ew, you guys, seriously, no!” Adam stressed. “My parents didn’t have sex when they were married-“

“Pshhh-“

“THEY DIDN’T! I was found in a cabbage patch and Neil was adopted!” Adam said and Cheeks smiled.

“Awww, to think, some day your kids will have this same reaction when somebody talks about dad and daddy,” he teased.

Adam scoffed. “Oh God, at least they’ll have the luxury of _knowing_ I had no sexual participation in their existence,” he said, and Cheeks giggled.

“Well, unless they’re from a surrogate mother, then some self-lovin’ is what helped make them-“

“Ewww this conversation is getting creepy now,” Sutan said, scrunching up his nose. “Please, no talk about lady bits and where babies come from,” he said, and Cheeks snorted.

“I’m possibly the gayest person on this bed of gay men and I’m the only one not afraid of naked women?” he asked, and the others shared a look.

“ _YES!_ ” they said in unison, making Cheeks laugh.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Neil looked up from his computer when he heard a squeal from the living room down below. He stood up and walked over to look down into the room and raised an eyebrow when he saw Brad lying on the couch with his phone to his ear, kicking his feet in the air like a dying roach. “You okay?” he called, and Brad stopped, looking up at him with a smile on his face.

“Sorry, Neil-y,” he called up, waving at him. “Just talking to my friend Maggie and I got excited,” he called, then lowered his voice again to go back to talking with his friend.

Neil just chuckled and walked back to his desk, shaking his head at his boyfriend’s antics.

Not too long after, he heard rattling footsteps on the metal staircase and tipped his head back when he heard Cheeks walk up behind him. “Sorry about that,” he said, kissing Neil’s forehead, hands on his shoulders. Neil tipped his head further back and smiled as he tugged Brad down for a little kiss. Cheeks smiled down at him, patting his shoulder before heading over to the big red oversized chair opposite the desk, tucked into the corner against the wall, next to the bookcase.

Neil glanced over at him, smiling as Cheeks settled with his legs over the arm, facing him. He spun his chair around to face him. “So, what was Maggie saying that has you all excited?” he asked, and Brad sighed.

“Maggie and her girlfriend Maria are getting married and she wanted me to tell her who was the best hairdresser at the salon to do her hair, but I was sooo excited for her about the wedding part that I sorta flailed,” he said, shrugging. “Do you know they’ve been together since they were thirteen years old?! Fifteen _years_ and they’re finally getting married.” He smiled as he looked up at the ceiling. “All these people are getting married and it makes me so happy, you know? It’s such a big deal to so many people.” His smile dimmed some and he glanced at his toes. “I just wish-“ he started, then stopped, looking at his silver toe-nail polish a bit too closely. “Nevermind.”

“You wish what?” Neil asked, stomach twisting a little.

Brad looked at him and smiled. “Oh nothing, I just sorta wish somebody I knew close was getting married so I could go to their wedding. I’m really interested in how a lesbian wedding would turn out. Or some really, really fabulous gay couple, I bet their wedding would be seriously stylish,” he said, wiggling. “I want somebody to get married close to me so I can like… flail with them, you know?” 

Neil let out a laugh. “You basically want somebody to jump around and talk wedding planning with,” he accused and Cheeks blinked.

“Oh _hey_! New career idea,” he said, pointing at Neil. “I can totally be a wedding planner for super-duper FABULOUS gay weddings!” he announced, sitting up, holding his hands up as if visualizing the header in his mind’s eye. “Sparkle-tastic Weddings By Cheeks!” 

Neil snorted. “Oh God, baby, no, just… no way,” he said, and Cheeks pouted dramatically.

“You don’t think I’d be a super awesome sparkle-tastic wedding planner?” he asked, and Neil smiled.

“No, you’d be great! But there isn’t that much of a market for ‘sparkle-tastic’ weddings. There’s some, but not that much,” he teased and Brad rolled his eyes.

“ _Neeeeiiill_ you’re being a dick,” he said, standing up to walk over and thump him in the ear. “I can totally plan a wedding,” he said, nodding.

Neil just laughed. “Convince somebody you know to get married and let you plan their wedding then,” he said, and Brad huffed.

“I want to, but everybody’s stupid, Adam and Sutan both said they aren’t getting married and they totally should, but they’re jerks and _lame_ cause it’s not like they’re either breaking up with their boyfriends _ever_! At least Sutan and Tommy, they’re too old to find anybody else so they may as well get married now and make it to a twenty-fifth wedding anniversary before they _die_ , you know?” he said, and Neil snorted.

“So you want them to get married JUST so you can play wedding planner, huh?” he asked, and Brad shrugged.

“That makes it sound bad,” he said, and Neil just smirked. “Oh fuck off,” he said, giggling as he rolled his eyes at his boyfriend. “Jerk,” he said, turning to head down the stairs.

Neil just grinned. “YOU LOVE ME!” he called petulantly before turning back to his computer, shaking his head in amusement at his boyfriend.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“Why does it always end up this way?” Adam asked, sitting beside Tommy and across from Neil. “Why do we go out and then we end up sitting around drinking alone at the table?” 

Tommy chuckled around his beer. “Cause our boyfriends are plotting against us,” he said, nodding at Neil. “Your boyfriend steals our boyfriends and they go dance together and we’re stuck watching the table.”

Neil chuckled. “Hey, Adam goes to dance with them a lot of the time,” he said, shooting Adam a look. “We’re the ones perpetually table-watching.”

Adam shrugged. “Maybe if you had any rhythm you wouldn’t be stuck,” he teased.

Tommy scoffed. “I’m a fucking musician and I don’t have any rhythm, fuck off,” he said, nudging Adam with his elbow. “Psh, Sutan wouldn’t dance with me even if I wanted him to. He says he hates being ‘the man’,” he said, finger-quotes included. “I keep telling him just cause I’m little doesn’t make me the ‘girl’ in our relationship, but nooo, when we dance, I’m the girl,” he said, scoffing.

Neil snorted into his beer. “Well if Bradley’s gossip has anything to it, you’re ‘girl’ in another sense too-“

“I like being fucked, implying that makes me a girl is sexist,” Tommy argued. “A man can be fucked and not lose his man-card!”

Adam snickered. “I still can’t believe _Sutan_ is such a top. Sure, you being a total bottom, easy to see, but _Sutan_?!”

Tommy smirked. “You’re just jealous I never let you fuck me when you had a crush on me,” he said and Adam made a face.

“What the hell was wrong with me then? I mean, you’re pretty and shit, but you’re a nasty little _dude_ ,” he said, then snickered. “Oh dude, tell me he’s done you in Raja gear. SERIOUSLY, that’s the funniest mental image EVER!” he said, giggling into his glass.

Tommy just winked, licking his lips. “Oh hell yeah, Babyboy, my woman is a fierce bitch,” he said, sipping his beer. “I think ‘Raja’ is more of a top than Sutan,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows. “Be jealous, men, my life is pretty fucking sweet.”

Adam snickered. “Hell yeah, you’re a rock star with a fucking amazon princess-slash-attractive man waiting at home for you to fulfill all your kinky ass fantasies. Your life is pretty damn sweet,” he agreed.

“You guys,” Neil said suddenly, looking down at his bottle. “Can I ask you something?” he asked, and they both gave him a look that clearly said ‘what the fuck, we were talking’. “I’m serious now, not like… not joking about Tommy’s sex life.”

Tommy nodded. “Okay, are we going to talk about how _serious_ ly boring YOUR sex life is?” he asked solemnly and Adam cracked up, stifling his laughter with a hand over his mouth.

“Asshole, shut up, he seems seriously serious,” Adam choked out, then gave Neil a very solid ‘I’m here for you’ look… it was almost the same as his ‘I’m a nosey asshole’ look. “Is something wrong, Neil?” he asked.

Neil bit his lip. “So, I think Brad wants to get married?” 

Tommy choked on his beer. “Whoa, wait, like… are you asking us or telling us?” he asked, eyes wide.

Neil shrugged. “I don’t know really. He hasn’t _said_ anything, and he’s had plenty of opportunities, but he just… he gets this look every time he hears about somebody getting married, or he sees something about weddings, and he started to say something with that faraway, wistful look but then changed directions mid-sentence and I really doubt he was being wistful about wanting to plan someone’s glittery wedding,” he said.

Adam snorted. “He’d totally be wistful about wanting to plan a glittery wedding,” he said, and Tommy just smirked.

“Hot damn, son, you better hope he is,” he said, saluting him with his bottle. “Otherwise you’re fucked!”

Neil frowned. “Why? I mean… why would I be fucked if he isn’t?”

Adam rolled his eyes. “ _If_ he does want to get married- and that is if- I doubt he’s going to come out and say it. If you don’t want to, just don’t bring it up,” he said simply. “Issue avoided.”

Neil sighed. “It’s not- why would I _avoid_ it?” he questioned. “And why would I be ‘fucked’ if Bradley wants to get married? It’s not like I’ve got some horrible fear of the idea.”

Tommy whistled. “Dude, I do _not_ ever want to be tied down like that. I mean can you imagine?! It’s like… it’s for real the end of a man’s life.”

Adam shot Tommy a look. “You’re the one that did all that shit to try and get this legal in the first place,” he pointed out.

Tommy shrugged. “So? It’s stupid and unfair for it to be illegal, I never said I supported _marriage_ , just equal rights to make the choice yourself, you know?”

Adam rolled his eyes. “My God, can you be more of a _dude_?” he asked incredulously.

Tommy shot him a look. “I don’t see you shopping for rings, Romeo,” he said, and Adam glared.

“First off, Romeo was an idiot teenager who _killed himself_ over a girl he’d known all of a week. Second, just because I don’t want to get married right now doesn’t mean I don’t ever plan on being married.” He shook his head. “How are you such a commitment-phobe, yet you’re in a serious, committed, _loving_ relationship?” 

Tommy smirked. “Not like I’m gonna get anything better anywhere else you know? Hell, I do love Sutan, I love him a lot, but like… the idea of being _legally required_ to be with him? Fuuuck that,” he said, scoffing.

Neil just rolled his eyes. “Fuck, you two are so annoying,” he said, then pointed at Tommy. “You can believe whatever you want, but unlike you I actually see a spiritual-ish side to marriage. It’s like… a big deal,” he said. “And it isn’t if I want it, the issue right now is that my boyfriend seems to want to get married.” He took a deep breath, calming down. “My question is, what the fuck do I do?” he asked.

Adam sighed. “Neil, if you don’t wanna get married, don’t do it just to make him happy. That would really upset him.”

Neil shrugged. “I do want to, some day, I just… I had no clue this stuff would come up so soon, you know?” he asked. “Hell, I’m not even thirty yet you know?” 

“Oh fuck off with your youth!” Sutan shouted, walking up to the table. “I’m nearly forty fucking years old,” he said pointedly. “ _Forty_!”

Cheeks giggled as he stumbled into his side. “BUT! Neither of us have to kill ourselves like we made that pact to!” he said, then shot Tommy and Neil suspicious looks. “Or at least we better not,” he teased and Neil held out his hand so that Cheeks could come sit in his lap.

“Have fun dancing?” he asked as Cheeks sat sideways across his lap. 

“Yep!” he said, then kissed Neil sweetly. “So, what’re we talking about your age for?” he asked, and Neil smiled tightly.

“Nothing much, baby,” he said, patting his hip. 

Tommy chuckled. “Talking about getting old.” He nodded at Neil. “You two are nearly thirty. Getting old with the rest of us.”

Cheeks sighed. “Neil-y, will you still love me when I’m old?” he asked and Neil chuckled.

“I’ll be a few months older, so yeah,” he said, and Cheeks rolled his eyes.

Sutan huffed. “TommyJoe, I’m gonna be forty soon. You gonna kick me to the curb when I’m over the hill?” he asked, leaning on the table.

Tommy smirked. “Hey, you’re young where it counts,” he said, giving him a flirty wink.

Adam snorted. “You two can’t actually run on sex,” he said, and Tommy gave him a pointed look.

“You don’t think?” he challenged. He smirked at Sutan. “Forty isn’t old, dude,” he said, reaching out to grab his hand. “Besides, by the time you’re so old your dick doesn’t work anymore, I’ll be nearly as old, it’s not that big of a deal,” he said and Sutan snorted.

“Fuck that, they make pills for that shit. I plan to die of a heart attack during sex,” he said, and   
Tommy snickered. 

“Dude, please don’t die during sex with me. I’d be really fucked up. I mean, you dying would suck in and of itself, but during sex?! I’d live the rest of my life in a mental ward.” 

Sutan smirked. “Psh, you know you love me,” he joked, leaning over to lick into his mouth.

Everybody groaned as they started sloppy, messy, drunken kisses. Cheeks groaned. “Please tell me we don’t look like that when we kiss,” he said, to Neil, who smiled.

“No way dude, I’m pretty sure I’ve never tried to somehow eat your soul through your mouth,” he said, tilting his head as he watched Tommy and Sutan’s kissing. “Seriously man, _ew_ ,” he said, shaking his head.

Adam shrugged. “Tommy just kisses like that. Trust me, I know,” he said, then looked around. “Alright, I’m the fifth wheel, where’s my boyfriend?” he asked, and Cheeks snickered.

“Getting free drinks from the bartender. He bats those eyelashes and gets free drinks just for being pretty,” he said, grinning. “I do that too, it’s fun.”

Neil poked him. “Harlot.”

“You like it,” he teased, kissing Neil’s cheek. “Cause then you don’t have to buy them for me!” he said with a bright, happy smile.

Neil looked at that beautiful, wonderful smile and wondered if it would be even more breathtaking if he let him call him his husband.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
When Neil got home, he checked to be sure Cheeks wasn’t home yet, then headed up to the office. He sat on the oversized chair and opened the box in his hands, looking down at the rings in it. There were two rings, the wedding bands in one box. He didn’t want to treat Cheeks like a girl and buy him an engagement ring, but he wanted rings for the occasions, mostly just for the effect. They were platinum rings with a line of black diamonds set around the middle in a thin line. He was pretty sure Cheeks would like them.

He sighed and pulled out his phone, calling the one person he wanted to speak with before he made any decisions.

“Hey Neil,” Eber answered, and he smiled, looking down at the rings in the box.

“So, I think I’m getting married,” he said, figuring he’d get straight to the point.

Eber laughed. “No shit, huh? When did this happen?” he asked.

Neil chuckled. “Well it hasn’t yet. I just bought the rings.” He leaned back. “I wasn’t planning on it, I just… I keep getting the idea Brad wants to get married, and everybody keeps saying ‘DON’T get married just to make him happy’, but I _want_ to.”

“You want to get married, or you want to make him happy?” Eber asked, and Neil hummed.

“Both. I mean, marriage is a big deal, and maybe I haven’t really wanted it before, but just knowing how happy it will make him is enough to make me want it. I love him. I want to spend the rest of my life with him. And if getting married makes that much of a difference to him, then I want it,” he said simply.

Eber chuckled. “Well, you know what you want more than anybody else can. If you want to marry him, marry him.”

Neil smiled weakly. “I hope he does want it. I mean, maybe I’m projecting? What if he doesn’t want to marry me?”

“You have met that kid, right? Short, going bald, _ridiculously_ codependent on you?” he asked, and Neil chuckled.

“We do spend a lot of time together, don’t we?” he said softly. “God, I really hope he says yes.”

“He will,” Eber reassured. “So, when’re you proposing?” he asked.

Neil hummed. “I’m not sure. I should probably call his mom first. Maybe this weekend. I usually take him on a date every weekend, I could do something different and propose.”

“Well, good luck with that,” Eber said, and Neil laughed, changing the topic as he stood up and hid the box with the rings behind a book on the bookcase next to him as he had intended when he came upstairs.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Neil was cooking dinner when Cheeks got home. He walked in the door and immediately dropped his bag and dramatically slid down the door, landing flat on his ass. “I hate my life,” he groaned and Neil chuckled.

“Why yes, dear, my day was nice, too,” he teased, and Cheeks grumbled, standing up to walk over to Neil’s side.

“Your sarcasm makes me hot,” he intoned sarcastically, smiling as he stood on his toes to peck Neil’s lips. “Mmmm good sugar,” he teased, smiling as he walked around and climbed into one of the barstools, watching Neil. “What did you do today?” he asked, and Neil shrugged.

“Did some shopping. Worked on this new video a little,” he said, turning around to grab something from the counter in front of Brad. “How was filming?” he asked, and Brad made a face.

“They’re working me to _death_! It’s a fucking thirty minute special, not some billion dollar film, you know?” he complained. “And I had to get naked, you know I hate getting naked!” he said, and Neil shot him a smirk. Brad giggled. “Shut up,” he said, swatting at him whenever he came within reach. “Mmmm what’s the occasion?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder at the dining table. It was set, there were candles on the table, and the wine glasses were out. “Did I forget our anniversary?” he joked, and Neil smiled.

“No, I just figured after a long day of filming you could use a decent dinner that didn’t come out of a freezer and go into the microwave,” he said, shrugging. “I bought some wine too, that should help with the whole ‘relaxing’ thing,” he said, and Brad hummed.

“Do I have time to get a shower before dinner’s ready?” he asked, and Neil nodded.

“Oh yeah, definitely,” he said. “I’ll be another half our, probably,” he said, and Brad smiled.

“Alright, I’m in the shower if anybody calls,” he said, leaving his phone on the table. He went back to the door and grabbed his bag before disappearing through to the bathroom. Neil went back to cooking, sautéing the onions he was cooking. It wasn’t but about five minutes since Cheeks left for the shower that his phone started ringing.  
Neil walked over and picked it up, breath catching when he saw it was Brad’s mother calling. He picked it up. “Hi, Mrs. Bell,” he said quickly.

“Oh! Hey Neil, where’s Brad?” she asked.

“He’s in the shower,” he said, wiping off his hands on the towel. “Look, this is really sudden and rushed but can I talk to you real quick before he gets back?” he asked, hoping he was through before Cheeks came back.

“Sure honey, what’s up?”

Neil bit his lip. “I know this is sort of sudden, but-“ He took a breath. “I’m going to ask Bradley to marry me,” he said calmly, voice soft. He heard her gasp. “And I’d really like your blessing,” he finished. “I was going to call Mr. Bell later, but you’re already on the phone-“

“OH MY GOD!” She screeched and Neil snatched the phone away, rolling his eyes at the familiar sound. “Oh my God, you’re going to propose?!” she asked, and he chuckled, smiling.

“I take it you approve?” he asked softly and she laughed.

“Aww sugar, you’re a good man. It may not have ever been too easy for us to deal with Bradley liking other men, but honey, if it has to be a man you sure are a good one,” she said, and he ducked his head bashfully. “You treat my boy like he deserves and that’s all a mama can ask for her baby, you know?” she asked, and he smiled.

“Yeah,” he said softly. “Well, I’m going to ask him soon, but don’t say anything to anybody. You know Cheeks, if there’s gossip it gets back to him,” he added.

“Oh God, my baby boy’s getting engaged! You make sure he calls me as soon as he can after, okay?” she said and Neil laughed.

“Who’s on the phone?” Neil looked up to see the door opening. Cheeks came walking out in a pair of shorts and a tank top. “Who’re you talking to, babe?” he asked, hopping back into the stool.

“It’s your mom,” he said, then sighed. “I’ll let you talk to your son now, Mrs. Bell,” he said, and she laughed.

“I hope I hear from you soon, Neil,” she said, and he smiled as he handed the phone to Brad, who took it with a smile, sliding off to go flop on the couch and talk to his mom.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Brad moaned happily as he drained the last of his wine. “Wow, that was amazing, where did you learn to cook so well?” he asked, sitting back, crossing his legs.

Neil chuckled, sipping his glass. “Honestly, I can follow instructions. I just usually don’t bother putting much effort into dinner,” he said and Brad smiled.

“Well aren’t you the good little house husband?” he teased, and Neil felt his stomach squirm at the word. He had to fight to keep from smiling at the thought that one day he would be his husband. “Seriously though, thank you,” Brad said, smiling at him lovingly. “You’re so sweet.”

Neil shrugged. “You’ve worked really hard lately. You deserve a nice dinner at home,” he said, and Cheeks grinned.

“A romantic dinner cooked by my amazing boyfriend,” he said, then tilted his head. “And it’s not even normal date nights,” he said, and Neil shrugged.

“I can’t spoil you sometimes?” he asked, and Brad laughed.

“Oh you can totally spoil me all you want,” he said, then stood. He started to grab his plate, and Neil stood up to stop him.

“No, let me-“

“You’re the one that cooked, Neil, it’s only fair,” Brad said, but Neil grabbed his wrist, shaking his head.

“Spoiling you, remember?” he asked, taking the plate from him.

Brad smiled up at him with nothing but affection in his eyes. “You’re amazing,” he said softly, and Neil smiled. Brad put a hand on his arm as he reached out for the wine glass. “Leave it,” he said, leaning in to kiss Neil.

Neil closed his eyes, letting Brad guide the kiss. When the kiss ended, Brad was looking at him with a clear hunger in his eyes, and it had nothing to do with the wine they had drank or the fish they had eaten. Neil put the dishes back down on the table and curled his hands around Brad’s hips, pulling him close as he kissed him again. Brad moaned softly, sliding his hands up Neil’s torso, settling on his chest as Neil held him close, kissing him slowly, exploring every detail he knew so well, licking the last of the taste of the wine from Brad’s tongue.

“Neil, bedroom,” Brad said as they broke to breathe.

Neil smiled down at him, then slouched down far enough to hook his hands around Brad’s legs, hauling him up by his thighs. Brad squeaked but quickly wound his legs around Neil’s hips, clinging to his shoulders. Neil kissed him and Brad moaned, clinging tightly as Neil carried him across the living room and to the bedroom.

Neil lowered Brad to the bed, breaking their hold on each other long enough to grab the hem of his shirt. As he emerged and tossed the offending garment, Brad knelt on the bed in front of him, tugging him into a kiss. He slid his hands up Brad’s tank top, stripping it off of him. They both kissed, exploring each other’s mouths as they went for each other’s pants, shoving at them ineffectively until they broke contact long enough to get naked. 

Neil moaned as Brad fell back, shuffling towards the pillows with Neil right on his heels. Neil pinned him to the bed, kissing him thoroughly before trailing kisses and fluttering touches down his body.

After two years together, they both knew exactly how to touch each other and caress each other to elicit the best sounds and reactions. In nearly no time at all, Neil was inside of Cheeks, holding him and kissing every sensitive spot on his throat as his thrusts drove his lover crazy.

When Neil sat back on his knees, tugging Cheeks into his lap, arms around each other, bodies moving together, barely able to do more than rock with the strange angle, Cheeks cried out, tossing his head back as his fingers tangled in Neil’s hair. Every barely-there movement was like the best torture. He looked down into Neil’s eyes, kissing him for all he was worth, whining against his lips.

After what felt like ages, Neil finally growled and tossed Cheeks onto his back, pinning him down as his thrusts grew rougher. He lowered his forehead to rest against Brad’s as he tilted his hips up, allowing him to snake a hand between them to take Brad’s erection in hand, eager to guide him to release before losing it himself.

Brad cried out softly, scrabbling for a hold on Neil’s back as he arched his back, unable to decide between meeting Neil’s thrusts or thrusting up into his fist. In the end, everything went white as he came, whining through his teeth before his orgasm finally crashed over him, leaving him to offer only a silent scream, nails digging into Neil’s back as his body went taught. Everything about the moment was so beautiful, Brad was so beautiful in his moment of ecstasy, that Neil’s release startled him, leaving him shouting out his lover’s name before collapsing weakly arms unable to hold him up anymore.

Later, once they were cleaned up and comfortable, Neil was drawn from his thoughts by Brad sighing and tapping at his middle as he lay curled in his arms, laying against his chest. “I could spend the rest of my life like this,” he said softly.

Neil hummed, rubbing at his arm. “Like what? Blissfully fucked out?” he asked and Brad grinned against his side so that he could feel it.

“Like this,” he said softly, sliding his hand across Neil’s chest. “Wrapped up in your arms, lying on your chest, listening to your heart beat,” he said, and Neil felt the organ in mention flutter. “It’s sappy, I know,” Brad started but Neil cut him off with a breathless, and thoughtless utterance.

“I want to marry you.”

Neil felt like time froze when Cheeks did. His stomach twisted, his heart dropped, and his throat closed. Cheeks shuffled some, lifting up on one elbow to look at Neil in confusion. “What?”

Neil sighed, closing his eyes before taking a deep breath, ready to come clean. “I said I want to marry you-“

“I heard what you said, but what- just-“ Brad shuffled. “Really?” he asked, looking guardedly hopeful as he looked into Neil’s eyes.

Neil bit his lip, fighting a smile. “I sorta just fucked up the proposal I was going to plan this weekend,” he said, and Brad’s face positively split open with a bright, amazing, beautiful, _breathtaking_ smile.

“WHAT?!” he cried, then squeaked, tumbling back down to Neil’s chest, hugging him around his middle as he pressed his face into his skin. “Oh my God, you were going to _propose_ to me?!” he asked brightly, and Neil smiled, nodding as he curled his hand around the back of Brad’s head, pulling him into a sweet kiss.

“I want to spend my life with you, Bradley Bell,” he said, looking into his bright, shining eyes. “And I want to do it as your husband.”

Brad just squealed, squeezing Neil even tighter. “NEIL!” he cried, giggling. He kissed him again, more knocking smiles together than anything. “I love you,” he gushed, and Neil smiled.

“You too, baby. You can only imagine.”

Brad sighed. “I’m just bummed you fucked up proposing,” he said, laying his head on Neil’s chest. He slid his hand through the sparse hair on Neil’s chest absently and Neil rolled his eyes.

“You want me to still propose, don’ t you?” he asked and Brad smirked.

“You know me so well,” he said, and Neil grinned.

“Alright, I’ll still take you on a date and do some dramatic proposal-“

“In public,” Brad prompted, and Neil laughed.

“Alright, public proposal this weekend,” he promised and Brad squeaked, doing a little half-assed happy dance without leaving Neil’s side.

“YAY!” He kissed Neil’s chest. “I’m gonna get _married_!”

Neil just smiled, kissing his forehead. “You’re insane,” he said softly, giving him a fond smile as he curled his arms tighter around the beautiful person in his arms.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Neil finally had to swallow his pride and ask for help. He couldn’t think of anybody to ask other than Sutan, no matter how much he’d be teased. What he didn’t count on, however, was for Tommy to be there when he walked in. “Oh no,” he said, and Sutan raised an eyebrow as he went to flop down beside Tommy, who was stretched out watching TV. “Um, private sorta means NOT HIM!” Neil hissed and Tommy flipped him off wordlessly.

“Fuck off, I’m not interested, I’m just here for the food and satellite,” he said, and Sutan rolled his eyes, poking the bottom of his bare foot.

“And the fact you love your boyfriend bunches,” he said, and Tommy grunted absently. “Whatever, what did you need to talk to me about, Neil?” Sutan asked patiently. “Boy trouble?” he asked sympathetically.

Neil cringed. “Not exactly trouble,” he said, then sighed. “Okay, so I am a pretty much good at romantic gestures,” he said, and Sutan nodded. “But I need to do something even more… extra special?” he said, shrugging. “I’m going to propose to Cheeks this weekend and-“

Tommy choked on his cheeto, sitting up quickly. “WHOA!” he said, coughing into his hand as Sutan offered him a pat on the back. “You’re _what_ ing to _who_?!” he demanded.

Neil raised an eyebrow. “We had this talk, dude. You and Adam and me all had this talk. I told you I knew he wanted to get married-“

“ _Nobody expected you to do it!_ ” Tommy said in a rush. “You’re not even thirty!”

Neil smiled. “So? Longer to spend my life as his husband then,” he said, and Sutan smiled.

“You are something else, Neil Lambert,” he said, shaking his head. “So, you’re going to propose and you want it to be really special?” he asked, and Neil nodded. “I thought you did tons of sweet stuff for him. I mean, he thinks you’re the sweetest man out there.”

Neil scoffed. “Okay, so _maybe_ he already knows I’m proposing and I need it to still be special even though he knows what’s coming,” he said, and Sutan frowned.

“How does he know?” he asked and Neil bit his lip, fighting a blush.

“I let it slip that I want to marry him,” he said, shrugging. “We were just… he was talking about how he could spend a lifetime in my arms and it was so fucking cheesy but adorably CHEEKS that I just let it slip that I wanted to marry him.”

Tommy frowned. “So why are you proposing again?”

Neil laughed. “He wants me to propose to him the real way. He was all ‘I’m bummed you don’t get to propose now’ and I knew that was code for ‘propose anyways’ so I’m still going to take him on a date and propose like I planned on. He wants it public and corny and dramatic. Pretty sure he’ll put those acting chops to use and cry just to get people who see to go all sappy,” he said, and Sutan barked out a laugh.

“Yep, that sounds like Bradley Bell alright,” he agreed, sitting back. “So, you came to me for help? Why?”

Neil shot him a look. “You have seen more chick flicks than my _brother_ ,” he stressed and Sutan smirked.

“Okay so what you want to do is take him on a picnic and drop the ring in a glass of champagne-“

“I am not dropping a _diamond wedding ring_ into a glass of champagne,” Neil said, shooting him a look. “Bitch, these rings were not cheap!”

“It won’t get messed up,” Sutan said, waving a hand. “Wait,” he said, then smirked. “I have an idea,” he said, hopping up to go grab his phone. “I think I have a friend who can get you a table last minute tomorrow night at La Boheme,” he said, and Neil raised an eyebrow.

“A one-day-prior reservation at La Boheme for dinner?” he asked skeptically.

Sutan nodded. “Yeah, it’s really not that bad. You can usually get a reservation two-day-prior without much trouble as long as your timing is flexible. But this could work,” he said, texting someone. “Seriously, I can probably set up something with a waiter and a ring if you need,” he said, and Tommy shot him a suspicious look.

“Exactly what kind of ‘friend’ is this?” he asked and Sutan smirked.

“Exactly the kind you’re thinking,” he said and Tommy bristled.

“Better fucking not think he’s getting anything of ‘that’ sort for this favor,” he said, and Sutan shot Neil an amused look.

“See? He’s a jealous fucker. I keep telling you guys,” he said, and Tommy just huffed.

“Of course I am, and tell me, how good of friends are you still with this guy. I mean, we’ve been together a really long fuckin’ time, dude,” he said, and Sutan rolled his eyes.

“Tommy, I haven’t slept with a single person other than you since we started dating, you know that, I love you, God help me,” he said, shaking his head.

Neil snickered. “Your love is like a fuckin’ river, huh?” he teased and Tommy scoffed.

“No, I just don’t share well-“

“We’ve noticed,” Sutan said, rolling his eyes. “No wonder you’re friends with the Lamberts. They’re both as possessive as you are.”

Neil shot him a look. “I’m not possessive! I trust my boyfriend. I have no reason to be possessive.”

Sutan snorted. “Whatever, done!” he said, holding up his phone. “Dinner reservation at Café La Boheme tomorrow night at eight, it’s under my name,” he said, and Neil smiled.

“Thanks, really,” he said, and Sutan waved a hand.

“I love you guys. And besides, Cheeks has wanted to get married his entire adult life. That man has wanted to call you his husband since the second it was clear it was going to be able to happen,” he said, and Neil’s smile softened. Sutan poked him in the chest. “Do not screw with him. You better be serious and in this for _ever_ ,” he said and Neil chuckled.

“Sutan, you’ve seen us,” he said and Sutan smirked.

“Dude, you two are like… attached at the hip. If there was ever a thing as soul mates? You two,” he agreed and Neil smiled shyly.

“Yeah, I think so too,” he said, then shot Tommy a look before he could even get his mouth all the way open. “Call me a pussy and I’ll tell about the time you cried watching a certain movie,” he said, and Tommy glowered.

“Bitch.”

“Fuckface,” Neil agreed, then smiled. “Thanks, Sutan, really,” he said, and Sutan nodded.

“No prob! Just make our little buddy happy,” he said, going to flop back beside Tommy. “You’re lucky I’m not a romantic like Cheeks. I’d have left you long ago,” he said, and Tommy grinned.

“No you wouldn’t, nobody else is half as good at sucking-“

“NO!” Neil cried, covering his ears.

Sutan just laughed. “Alright, well call me if you need something sweet, like a ring on top of the desert, or a card on the serving plate, something I can get you some help with,” he said, and Neil nodded.

“Thanks,” he said once more.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Brad was pouting at the mirror in the closet when a white rose was lowered into his view, making him back up some. “Whoa, going blind here,” he said, and Neil chuckled, kissing his cheek as he handed him the flower. Cheeks smiled. “Aww, it’s beautiful,” he said, smelling the rose happily before turning to peck Neil’s lips. “Thank you, Neil-y,” he said and Neil shrugged.

“Passed a vendor and thought of you,” he said and Cheeks _beamed_.

“You’re a keeper,” he joked, walking out of the closet to grab the vase from the dresser and head into the bathroom to get water. When he came back, Neil was going through his (much emptier) section of the closet. Brad set the vase on the dresser and came back. “Gah, I hate this,” Brad whined, shrugging off the jacket he was wearing.

Neil raised an eyebrow. “I thought it looked good,” he said, picking out a button down and a pair of slacks to wear to dinner.

“Do I have to wear nice clothes?” Brad whined and Neil chuckled.

“Yes, baby, dress up.”

Brad growled. “I wish you’d just tell me where we’re going,” he said and Neil smirked.

“Nope, surprise,” he said, kissing his cheek as he walked past, heading to find some shoes in the back of the large closet.

Brad sighed, digging through stuff. “I hate all of my clothes,” he grumbled and Neil rolled his eyes.

“You liar, you love your clothes-“

“Yeah, when they FIT!” Brad whined, crossing his arms over his middle. “Why didn’t you tell me I’d got so fat?” he accused and Neil shot him a look.

“Because you’re not fat, Bradley. You’re _tiny_ -“

“I’ve gained _thirty-eight_ pounds, Neil!” he cried. “I have gone from one hundred and twenty pounds to nearly one hundred and sixty! I’m _fat_!” he stressed. “I’ve never been fat before!”

Neil shrugged. “Well, you must’ve gained it pretty evenly all over, you don’t look much bigger, babe. I promise. You’re definitely not sporting a beer gut or anything,” he reassured. Brad glared and Neil gave him a loving look. “Brad, don’t worry. If you’re that worried, we can go jogging together or something. I really don’t think you’ve gained that much. I think maybe you were on a defective scale-“

“It was a good scale, I check it out,” he said, pouting. “None of my clothes fit,” he whined, finding his biggest pair of slacks. “My ass is going to needs its own zip code soon,” he groused.

Neil smirked. “Not complaining about that one,” he said, and Brad glared at him. “Okay, okay, sorry!” he said, then gathered his clothes, stopping long enough to kiss Brad’s forehead. “You’re perfect to me, baby. Promise,” he said, and Brad sighed, smiling up at him.

“Thanks, honey,” he said, squeezing Neil’s hand before letting him go past out into the bedroom.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
When they got to the restaurant, Brad whistled appreciatively on the way to their table. “Well now, whose dick did you have to suck to get a table here if you didn’t plan this until yesterday?” he asked softly and Neil rolled his eyes.

“And you call me a ‘dude’,” he teased, pulling out Brad’s chair for him when the man got them to their table. After they were both seated, he just smiled. “I have my ways,” he said teasingly. When the waiter came up, Neil was relieved to see it was, in fact, the one he had made plans with earlier that day. He’d given the guy instructions about the ring and only relented the ring itself on a pain-of-death threat that, should anything happen to fuck up his proposal, he would kill the guy with his bare hands.

All through dinner, Neil was more and more nervous. He knew it was stupid, Brad already knew it was coming, he was mostly only doing it so that Brad could do his supposedly-well-practiced ‘shocked and delighted’ acceptance in public, and he knew Brad was already going to say yes, but couldn’t help but hope it went right. He wanted it to be good enough for Brad. He wanted it to be the kind of proposal Brad could tell everybody all the details of and gush about how happy he was over.

When Brad finished the cake-like dish they were splitting for dessert with a moan, Neil bit his lip as he saw the waiter coming from the opposite end of the room with a covered tray in his hand. “Wow, that was so good,” he said, smiling at Neil. “This was a good idea,” he said, and Neil smiled.

“Only the best for you,” he said with a shrug and a smile.

“Pardon me, sir,” the waiter said, setting down a covered dish in front of them before setting a small covered dish in front of Brad. Brad raised an eyebrow at Neil as the guy stepped back. Neil bit his lip and Brad’s eyes lit up, though he pretended to be confused still. When the man took the lid off of the dish, revealing a small card, Brad picked it up, reading the curly script with a gasp, which caught the attention of the lady at the table next to them.

“Marry me,” he read out loud softly, then glanced up when he heard a rise in the murmuring around them, only to see Neil beside him, down on one knee. “Neil,” he said softly, and Neil beamed as he opened his hand, holding up a ring.

“You are the most amazing, most talented, and most beautiful person I’ve ever met,” he started, staring into Brad’s eyes. “And I love you so much more than I ever knew was possible. Bradley Bell, would you do me the honor of being my husband?” he asked in a clear, yet nervous voice.

Brad didn’t even have to fake the tears in his eyes as he nodded, throat too tight to speak. “Yes,” he whispered, letting out a slightly hysterical laugh as Neil caught his hand and slid the ring onto his finger. He was broken from his reverie, however, when several of the tables around them let out ‘awwww’s and a cheers, clapping and whistling when Brad ducked in and kissed Neil, pressing their foreheads together as they both burst into laughter, a bit amused by the reactions around them and more than a little overwhelmed by how big of a deal it still was, even when they both knew what was coming beforehand.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
The next day, they met Neil’s mother for lunch. They had planned on breaking the news to her, but as soon as they got there, Brad couldn’t help himself. “LEILA WE’RE GETTING MARRIED!” he cried, squealing happily. About half the restaurant turned to them just in time to see Leila hugging him.

“What?” she asked, smiling brightly as she hugged her future son-in-law. “Oh my God, Neil!” she cried, laughing as he joined their group hug. When they finally sat down, she looked at Brad’s hands and glared at her son. “And why doesn’t he have a ring?” she demanded.

Brad smiled. “I have one, he used it to propose with, but it’s the wedding ring itself, so I don’t want to wear it yet. I wanna do that when we actually get married.”

Neil smiled, lacing their fingers together. “So, yeah, we were gonna tell you like… more respectably, but _somebody_ is excited,” he teased and Brad smiled.

“You like my excited, you’re _marrying_ my excitable personality!” he said, and Neil shot him a smirk.

“You really love saying ‘marry’ and ‘marriage’ and ‘married’ recently,” he teased.

“Your fault, not mine,” he said with an absent shrug, though he smiled down at their hands, squeezing Neil’s fingers gently. Neil just squeezed back, earning a breathless laugh from Brad, who looked up to meet his eyes then looked away to talk to Leila.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Neil was out, doing some work for a writing job he was doing for a local business, so Brad, Sutan, and Adam were all hanging out at their place. Adam was lounging on the chaise while Sutan and Brad hung out on the couch, Sutan lobbing cheese puffs at Cheeks, who kept glaring at him and throwing them back.

“You’re getting orange dust all over my sofa you ass,” he whined, glaring. “And stop eating those in front of me,” he whined, pouting. “I’m on a diet!”

“Why?” Sutan asked. “I mean, sure, you’re a little fatty now, but you’re already getting married, you can let yourself go,” he said, shrugging.

Adam snickered. “What, worried Neil won’t love you anymore if you get any fatter?” he asked, and Cheeks glared.

“Fuck off, I’m really fucking sensitive about my weight!” he snapped, crossing his arms. He sniffled. “And for your information, Neil doesn’t care,” he said smugly. “Neil actually likes it sorta, cause my ass is even bigger,” he said, and Sutan smirked.

“I always pegged Neil for an ass man. Never seemed to look at a woman’s tits as much as her ass on tour,” he said, and Cheeks glared.

“Otherwise, he says he doesn’t care because I’m still beautiful,” he said and Adam snickered.

“Well he’s not wrong, honey, you will always be unfairly pretty,” he granted, then shrugged. “And hell, I can’t say anything, have you _seen_ how much fatter I am now compared to my early twenties? I’m almost teenager-fat again,” he said, shuddering.

“Yeah, well,” Cheeks said, pouting. “I’ve never been fat before. I don’t like it. AND I want to be skinny again for my wedding,” he said with finality. “It’s a miracle Neil can still pick my fat ass up anymore,” he said, huffing.

Adam frowned. “Why would Neil be picking you up anyways, you have legs,” he said, and Sutan cracked up at the smirk on Brad’s face. Adam glanced over, saw the look, then gaped. “Ewwwww, gross!”

Sutan waved a hand. “Aww, shut up, just cause he’s your brother doesn’t mean he doesn’t get to have sex. Hell, if I was with a man strong enough to pick me up and carry me to bed, I’d demand it often!”

Cheeks laughed. “Aww, I just imagined little tiny Tommy trying to hold you up against a wall and fuck you! HAHAHA!” he laughed and Adam gave him a disturbed look.

“Why would you imagine that? Ever?” he asked, shuddering. “I don’t want to know what my friends look like having sex. DEFINITELY not my brother.”

Brad smirked. “Abso-fuckin-lutely gorgeous is what,” he said and Adam whined.

Sutan hummed. “He doesn’t make weird faces? He looks like a weird-face kinda guy,” he said, and Cheeks shook his head.

“He’s… not very expressive, shockingly,” he said, shrugging. “He’s fairly expressive in everyday things so it’s weird. Although, we’re really big kissers, so maybe I just miss the expressions between kisses,” he added.

“EW!” Adam whined, covering his ears. “Fuck this,” he said, standing up to walk out onto the patio, slamming the door behind him.

Sutan smirked. “Bitch,” he said, then turned. “And really, kissers?” he asked, and Cheeks nodded. “Like… who the fuck kisses so much during sex that they don’t see each other’s expressions?” he asked.

Cheeks shrugged. “I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but we don’t really _fuck_ as much as… well, you know,” he said, blushing. “Meaningful type…-“

Sutan snickered. “You want to say ‘making love’ but don’t want to sound like a loser,” he said and Cheeks whined.

“Well I can’t think of a better word! And like I said, we do fuck just for the hell of it plenty, but it’s just not as much. It’s weird, he’s the only man I’ve been with that always makes it passionate. Even when we’re being playful, it turns loving and passionate, not just horny and lustful,” he said, shrugging. “And even lustful fucking ends up not looking at each other’s face very much,” he added. “It’s either kissing, looking into each other’s eyes, faces pressed into necks, or not facing each other,” he said, shrugging.

Sutan whistled. “Damn, you are the most vanilla couple I’ve ever met,” he assessed.

Cheeks rolled his eyes. “We are not the MOST vanilla couple ever, fuck off. Besides, nothing is wrong with NOT having a kinky little rock star waiting at home,” he accused, standing up to go out onto the patio with Adam.

When he got out there, Adam gave him a suspicious glare. “If you mention sex, I’m going to throw you over and watch you roll down the hill,” he said, patting the railing.

Cheeks laughed. “No, I’m running away from Sutan. He’s a jackass,” he said, snorting. “Fucking vanilla my ass-“

“NO!” Adam whined and Cheeks patted his arm.

“Okay, okay, I won’t mention the baby brother’s sex life,” he said, going to sit on the patio chair. “Although he’s had to hear way more about yours than you have about his, so it’s only fair really,” he said pointedly.

Adam smirked. “Hey, he came on tour with me, not the other way around, honey,” he said, taking the seat opposite him. “It’s just so weird,” he said honestly. “My baby brother getting married,” he said, whistling as he shook his head. “I never thought I’d see the day,” he said, and Cheeks smiled down at his lap.

“I didn’t think he’d propose like this. I mean… I wanted to marry him but I thought I’d have to wait a few years. I didn’t know he wanted to marry me,” he said softly.

Adam smiled. “We talked about it,” he admitted. “Before, he was mentioning once how he thought you wanted to get married and I told him not to do it just because you wanted it, but then he told me he was pretty sure he wanted to be your husband,” he said softly, and Cheeks grinned.

“Really? Awww,” he said, sighing. “Want the truth?” he asked softly and Adam raised an eyebrow. Cheeks smiled. “The beautiful proposal we tell everybody about and that I gush about and stuff?” he asked, and Adam nodded. “It wasn’t the actual first mention of marriage. _Technically_ it was the first proposal, but we went out that night both knowing the outcome already. I didn’t know _how_ he was gonna do it and it was beautiful and special and I really did cry,” he admitted, grinning. “It was so amazing that he did so much when he already knew I knew it was coming.”

“Wait, how did you know?” Adam asked curiously.

Cheeks smiled, staring off at the park down the slope. “We were going to sleep and I was feeling sappy because he’d been so sweet all night, he’d cooked me this amazing dinner, set the table with candles and shit… God, he’s so amazing,” he said, then chuckled. “It was a lame and corny thing to say, but I told him I would be happy spending a lifetime in his arms, listening to his heartbeat, and then I got all awkward cause that was _SO_ lame-“

“Wow, yeah, really very corny,” Adam said and Cheeks glared. “Okay, continue as long as it doesn’t involve anything ELSE in bed,” he warned.

Cheeks smiled. “Out of nowhere he just said ‘I want to marry you’,” he said simply. Adam just gaped. “I was all ‘O-M-G’ and he was all ‘shit I just ruined the proposal I was gonna plan’ and he told me he had just bought the rings that day. Then I pouted until he agreed to still plan a proposal in public so I could have my moment of glory,” he added.

The door slid open and Sutan ducked out. “Hey, where’re your condoms?” he asked, and Cheeks shot him a look while Adam groaned.

“Why do you want to know?” Cheeks demanded, crossing his arms.

Sutan smirked. “I’m snooping in your bedroom. I can’t find your sex-toy stash so I hoped you’d tell me where the condoms are since they’re probably together,” he said, then smirked. “Although really, lube in the bed table? How stereotypical-“

“SUTAN!” Adam cried, glaring. “T-M-I!”

Cheeks groaned. “We don’t have a sex-toy stash, you asshole,” he said, and Sutan made a face.

“Boring, that’s more than vanilla, that’s practically puritan,” he said and Cheeks scoffed. “But really, where the fuck are your condoms? I’m annoyed that my snooping skills missed somewhere,” he said, walking out to hop up onto the wall.

Cheeks groaned. “We don’t have condoms so stop snooping through my shit!”

Sutan smirked. “Well now, _bareback_ -“

“I’m going to have to kill myself,” Adam said, staring out into space in faux-shock. “I’m actually going to have to commit suicide, ALTHOUGH,” he started, turning to face him. “You’ve been with a lot of men, I really hope your lack of safe sex practices don’t extend all the way back through the last seven years,” he said pointedly.

“Seriously, you don’t want to give Neil dick leprosy,” Sutan said and Adam gave him a horrified look.

Cheeks raised an eyebrow. “Well for one, dick leprosy isn’t a real thing, and two, why the fuck would we use condoms?” he asked pointedly. “We’re both men, there’s nobody to get pregnant, and we’ve been together two years and we’re getting _married_. I mean… who the fuck uses condoms with their fiancé when you’re both boys?” 

Sutan shot him a look. “Why not?” he asked, and Cheeks crossed his arms.

“You’re saying you and your boyfriend, who you have been dating as far as we know exclusively for two years as well, still use condoms?” he asked.

Sutan nodded. “I mean, well, not to full effect, not like… for oral too, but yeah, definitely.”

Cheeks frowned. “But why? I mean, unless one of you has something, in which case I get that I wouldn’t know that, so don’t think I’m prying,” he said quickly.

Sutan chuckled. “Well Cheeks, you never know, right?” he said. “Tommy is possessive, I’m only his, and I know he’s only mine, I trust him and love him to death, but shit happens, dude. I haven’t been with anybody but him and I know he’d come clean if he did cheat on me, but all it would take is him getting drunk and forgetting he can’t go home with somebody, then sleeping with me before he gets the guts to come clean and bam, I’ve got something,” he said, shrugging. “I don’t think he would, I really don’t think anything would make him cheat on me because he loves me for real, but shit happens. I’d never forgive him, but we’re honest at least.” He looked at Adam. “You know what I mean.”

Adam shrugged. “I don’t know, I mean, me and Sauli use condoms, bout the same, only actual sex, but like… it’s less ‘shit happens’ and more just extra precaution,” he pointed out. “We’re both committed, we’re both monogamous for good, but we both also get tattoos,” he pointed out. “You can never be too safe, especially since I would hate myself forever if I got something from a shitty tattoo place and messed up and gave it to the love of my life, you know?” he said with a shrug. He looked at Sutan. “But it makes sense. They aren’t as tattooed as we are, they’re getting married, and they’re stupidly close, even for a couple living together,” he said and Sutan rolled his eyes.

“That’s for damn sure. I love TommyJoe, he’s a lot of fun just to hang out with, but even I get tired of him sometimes and we’re not living together,” he pointed out.

Cheeks rolled his eyes. “Neil’s my best friend,” he said firmly. “I could probably spend every day with him for the rest of my life, and sure we’d argue, everybody does, but I’d be perfectly happy I think.” He blushed when he saw the other two fighting laughter. “FUCK OFF!” he whined, pouting.

The door behind them slid open. “I thought I heard a familiar bitchy tone,” Neil said, and Cheeks pouted up at him. “Uh-oh, what did they do?” he asked, going over to lean down and kiss his cheek.

“Neil-y, they’re being mean to me,” he said, huffing as he crossed his arms. “They’re calling me a girl and insulting my sex life,” he said and Neil raised an eyebrow.

“Well, hopefully your sex life is our business, not theirs,” he said and Sutan smirked.

“No sex toys, huh?” he asked and Neil glared first at him, then at Cheeks, who gave him a wide eyed, innocent look.

“He went snooping! I was out here, talking to Adam, and he went snooping and looking for a sex-toy stash!” he cried indignantly. “Neil, make them stop!” he whined, pouting as Sutan and Adam started snickering.

Neil glared at them both. “Shut up or I’ll throw you over the wall and watch you roll down the hill,” he threatened. “And seriously, Adam, why the fuck do you want to talk about your _brothers_ sex life?!” he asked, horrified.

Adam cringed. “I didn’t want to know anything, Sutan brought it up,” he said, glaring at him.

Sutan nodded. “And really, Neil, bareback!” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Neil glared. “You’re skinny, I bet you’ll fly farther,” he threatened.

“Hmmm probably, I bet I’m about the same weight as your chubby little fiancé-“

“Kill him!” Cheeks grumbled, and Neil rolled his eyes.

“Okay, shut up, leave my beautiful, amazing, and _not_ chubby fiancé alone,” he said, then leaned down to peck Brad’s lips. “I’ll beat them for you if they don’t stop,” he promised, kissing his forehead on the way back up.

Brad smiled at him tenderly. “I love you,” he said breathlessly, and Neil stroked his cheek.

“Love you more,” he said, standing to head inside.

“Awwwww, sappy little shits,” Sutan said, then smirked at Adam. “I bet their sex life is so fucking lame,” he said, and Neil turned around, glaring at him.

“You know what-“ he started and Adam’s eyes widened as Neil looked at Cheeks and smirked.

“NO!” Adam cried, eyes going wide.

Cheeks glanced up and Neil raised an eyebrow and Cheeks flushed, then bit his lip. “Wanna?” he asked, and Neil grinned. He walked over and scooped him up off the lounger, making him squeal as he scrambled to wrap his arms around Neil’s neck. “Neil!” he laughed, only to be cut off as Neil kissed him, making him moan.

“Door,” Neil panted and Cheeks reached out to slide it open.

“Mmmm baby,” he groaned, tangling his hands in Neil’s hair as he kissed him again, only to break the kiss and smirk at the others, wiggling his fingers at them over Neil’s shoulder as Neil carried him inside with a clear purpose in mind. “Bye guys!” he giggled, poking his tongue out at Sutan before he disappeared from view.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
When Brad came walking out of the bedroom in Neil’s boxers and his shirt, scratching at his belly, he did _not_ expect to see Sutan still laying on the couch. “Oh. My. God. Seriously?!” he cried and Sutan rolled his eyes.

“Adam may have ran off, but I’m locked out of my apartment until Tommy gives me my fucking keys back. He hid them and took them with him because he’s a jerk. It was stay and listen to you have sex- very hot by the way-,” he added. “And mooch off your TV or go somewhere else and cost me the cab ride. Bite me,” he said.

Brad shuffled over to the refrigerator, glaring at Sutan as he took out a bottle of water. Neil came shuffling out of the bedroom in just his jeans, only to glare when he saw Sutan on the couch. Cheeks rolled his eyes. “Kill him if you want, I’m too relaxed to bother,” he said, and Neil smirked, which made Cheeks blow him a kiss.

“Nah, I’m pretty chill right now,” Neil said, fixing a smug look on his face as he headed to the kitchen, stopping to wrap his arms around Cheeks from behind, pressing his face into his neck with a satisfied hum. “You smell like my cologne,” he said and Brad hummed softly, tilting his head to the side to let Neil sniff him.

“Sleeping with you then putting on your shirt does that, darling.” Cheeks grinned when Neil nipped at his earlobe playfully before straightening up, walking over to the refrigerator. He grabbed a the bottle of orange juice and Cheeks shot him a warning glare. “What?” he asked with innocent eyes.

“You drink out of that bottle and I’ll kick you,” he threatened and Neil rolled his eyes.

“Fine, fine, whatever,” he said, rolling his eyes. “But, you know, only we drink out of this jug and if you haven’t had my saliva about everywhere it can go by now, I’ll be shocked,” he said and Cheeks made a face.

“It’s just not the _same_ \- NEIL!” he cried as Neil darted forward and stuck his tongue in his ear, making him squeal and elbow him. “NEIL LAMBERT GET OFF!” he cried, laughing as he shoved him away. Neil just grinned. “Fucker,” he grumbled and Neil hummed with a smirk.

“You know it, babe,” he said, grabbing a handful of ass as he walked past Cheeks, who gasped and pulled away.

“Jerk,” he said as Neil walked past him, though the fondness in his eyes showed it was just teasing.

Neil just grinned and winked, heading over to sit on the chaise. “So, you really have no shame, do you?” he asked, and Sutan chuckled.

“Well, like I told him, it was either waste my money to drive somewhere else, since Tommy stole my keys today and won’t be home for a few hours, or sit here and listen to you two fuck, and option two was better in more than one way,” he said, smirking. “Why Neil Lambert, if I’d known you were as good as he makes it sound, I’d have turned your straight a looong time ago,” he said and Neil rolled his eyes.

“Thank GOD you didn’t,” he said, and Brad smirked smugly as he walked into the living room, crawling to curl along Neil’s side, settling in snugly. “My baby is all I want,” Neil said, kissing his temple. Brad just smiled and curled into Neil’s chest, smiling across at Sutan smugly.

Sutan rolled his eyes. “Okay, for real though, you two are sort of perfect together,” he admitted. “I’m really happy for you.” He threw up his hands. “SO! When are we starting wedding planning?!” he asked Cheeks, who smiled blindingly.

“Well, in my mind I already have,” he said and Neil groaned. “Shut up, you asked me to marry you, you deal with my wedding fantasies,” he said, poking him. “And I’m pretty sure it’s going to be totez amazing!” he said brightly.

Neil hummed. “Sucks my go-to best man isn’t really appropriate. That’s unfortunate,” he said, and Brad frowned.

“Ew, that is unfortunate,” he said, and Sutan raised an eyebrow.

Neil chuckled. “I always said my brother would be my best man if I ever got married. That’s sorta not the most appropriate since I’m marrying an ex of his,” he said, and Sutan made a face.

“Ew, that does suck,” he said. “Eber then?” he asked, and Neil sighed.

“Unfortunately,” he said, and Cheeks giggled. “Do you _know_ what kind of best man speech my father is going to give?” Neil asked Brad, who smirked.

“I bet it involves a mention of refrigerators,” he said and Neil groaned. He smiled. “I can’t decide if I want my sister or my aunt Kate to be my best lady,” he said, and Neil smiled.

“You could do your dad,” he suggested and Brad smiled sadly.

“As much as he likes you, I doubt he’ll want to be my best man. He loves me, he accepts me enough, but I really doubt he’ll want to be my best man unless I’m marrying a girl when it comes down to it.”

Neil kissed his hair. “Did you ask him? I mean… do you want him to be, or you really want your aunt?”

Brad hummed. “I don’t know,” he said, then shrugged. “Anyways, I’ll deal with that later. I have no idea where the hell I’ll find a flower girl! I mean… everybody’s got little boys!” he stressed.

Sutan snickered. “We can always dress a little boy up like a girl. Kids that age look the same anyway,” he said, and Brad rolled his eyes.

“I’ve got a nephew I can have be the ring bearer. Maybe,” he said, shrugging.

Neil caught his hand, squeezing it. “I just want to marry you. I don’t care how it goes. You do all that. I just want it to end in having a husband.”

“What’re you going to do about your last names?” Sutan asked and Brad glanced at Neil, who shrugged.

“We gonna change ‘em?” he asked, and Brad smiled softly.

“Me and Sutan talked about this once,” he said and Sutan raised an eyebrow. “Okay, we were drunk, but still, I like Lambert-Bell,” he said and Neil raised an eyebrow.

“You do, huh?” he asked, and Brad nodded. “Bradley Lambert-Bell does have a ring to it,” he said, then hummed. “Neil Lambert-Bell,” he tried aloud. “Not so bad,” he offered.

“So you like?” Brad asked excitedly and Neil gave him an adoring smile.

“I love it,” he reassured, squeezing him lightly.

Brad giggled softly, stroking a hand through Neil’s hair. “Well _I_ love you,” he said and Neil rolled his eyes, kissing his nose.

“I love you too, Cheeks-“

“I LOVE YOU BOTH!” Sutan cried and they both screamed when he leapt on top of them, laughing evilly as they flailed, trying to disentangle from all the long, skinny limbs and bony knees and elbows that were attacking.


End file.
